WD-40 Co. has added non-aerosol industrial-strength cleaner and degreaser products to its Specialist line. New Product Post: 9/22/2017
Edited by Bart Bishop Assistant Editor, Production Machining To meet the needs of workers in highly regulated environments who must quickly and safely clean and degrease their work sites, tools, equipment and

Join us at PCx for sessions presented by leading parts cleaning experts from around the world on the latest parts cleaning technologies, chemistries, and equipment during PMTS this spring.Blog Post: 2/23/2017
Russ Willcutt Associate Editor, Production Machining The Parts Cleaning Exposition (PCx) will be held jointly with the Precision

The company highlighted its facility expansions and new cutting tool technologies during a recent open house at its global headquarters in Tübingen, Germany. Blog Post: 5/25/2017
Barbara Schulz European Correspondent, Gardner Business Media Small steps, narrow alleys and pointed gables shape the silhouette of old Tübingen, Germany, on the

After enough one-size-fits-all initiatives, lean manufacturing can lose its luster. After all, the Toyota Production System (TPS) that forms much of the basis of modern lean thinking doesn’t apply perfectly to every manufacturing operation, particularly job shops.
And yet, the experience of at least one manufacturer shows that the perfect

Do Not Underestimate Your Value to Customers, and Other Advice for Shops

September 26, 2017

One of the opportunities available through the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) is the chance to attend its annual Sales and Marketing Conference. Exactly as the name states, this event focuses on two vital areas in which independent machine shops routinely struggle.
The conference this year was in Pittsburgh. I attended part of it

The Concept Turn 60 from Emco Maier is a high-performance, PC-controlled, two-axis CNC turning machine designed to be ideal for industrial training. The machine is part of Emco’s modular industrial training concept for preparing employees for specific production requirements and targeted training.
The machine base of the CT 60 has been

Senior Editor Matt Danford’s article “Skills Training Strenghens Shops, Communities” describes one idea to help cultivate a pool of machining and manufacturing talent. It describes the efforts by the Jane Addams Resource Corp. (JARC) to teach low-income adults in the Chicago, Illinois, area the skills they need to establish

“Robots are job-killers. They should be banned or taxed. I heard this from experts at the universities.” Such comments might make us smile if we weren’t hearing them from policy makers, influential public figures or fellow voters who clearly believe what they are saying and are likely to base decisions on these views. Often the

Plants assist with the mood of the shop and quality of the air. Here are a few additional innovations at the shop we covered this month for its application of data-driven manufacturing. Blog Post: 9/9/2017
Peter Zelinski Editor-in-Chief, Modern Machine Shop L&S Machine in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, has a simple, radical idea for how to use data

AUKOM is an acronym for the German phrase ausbildung koordinatenmesstechnik, which translates to “coordinate metrology training.” U.S. machine shops serving the automotive industry might be familiar with this standard and perhaps have metrologists on staff who are certified in it. Those outside of automotive might not have heard of it

Automotive OEMs and their suppliers are investing in retooling and improving facilities to increase productivity and improve efficiency. Notable OEM spending programs include $1.4 billion for a transmission plant in Livonia, Michigan; $200 million for an assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio; $75 million for an engine plant in Trenton, Michigan; $1

Team Penske is one of the country’s most successful professional automobile racing teams. Dating back to its first race in 1966’s 24 Hours of Daytona, cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 420 major race wins, more than 480 pole positions and 28 national championships in open-wheel, stock-car and sports-car

The latest issue of Modern Machine Shop breaks down part probing options for different kinds of EDM equipment, investigates why the automotive market is so strong and more. Blog Post: 4/10/2017
Jedd Cole Associate Editor, Modern Machine Shop ​ Click the image to read the April 2017 digital edition of the magazine. According to Brian

Gehring L.P. has announced plans for its 2017 Honing Conference and Workshops event, to be held May 10-11, 2017, in Plymouth, Michigan. The conference and workshops will bring together experts from the industry to discuss and propose solutions to advanced manufacturing challenges in surface finish applications. Industry experts will spotlight new

The COO of a machine tool builder that specializes in automotive production comments on the implications of greener transportation. “When the winds of change are blowing, one can build a wall or a windmill.”
Cited by Heller Group COO Manfred Maier at a recent Heller Machine Tools press event, this adage speaks to the value of changing

Fives Landis Corp., a manufacturer of precision grinding machines and grinding accessories, will open a new technology center at its headquarters in Hagerstown, Maryland, near Washington D.C. At 6,000 square feet, the new R&D and demo facility will feature systems including Landis-Bryant ID/OD grinders, Landis centerless grinders and the

Multiple market forces are working to the advantage of the aviation market, representing a significant and sustainable growth opportunity for machine tool builders. These forces include the strong global growth of both passenger and freight air transport demand followed by strong demand for new aircraft and increasing competition between aircraft

GKN Aerospace and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a five-year research agreement focused on additive manufacturing. Utilizing the DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, this $17.8 million cooperative research and development agreement will focus on

The center serves the aerospace and automotive industries with non-destructive testing and part inspection services. News Post: 6/20/2017
Jedd Cole Associate Editor, Modern Machine Shop The Jesse Garant Metrology Center, a part inspection company specializing in industrial part scanning for automotive and aerospace manufacturers in Michigan and

An electrical arc process joins a field of additive manufacturing technologies that could one day provide aerospace manufacturers with alternatives to near-net-shape forgings. Blog Post: 8/24/2017
Matt Danford Senior Editor, Modern Machine Shop In the future, pounding heated metal into submission will not be the only viable means of producing

A big R&D agreement looks at additive for structural airplane components, Autodesk appoints a new president and other industry news. Blog Post: 7/18/2017
Jedd Cole Associate Editor, Modern Machine Shop The GKN Additive Manufacturing Research Cell at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. GKN Aerospace and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) of the

Control Micro Systems (Orlando, Florida), a supplier of laser machine tools for marking, engraving, cutting, drilling and welding applications, reports that increasing demand for welding of transparent plastics has led to advances in laser welding technologies such as clear-on-clear polymer welding for the medical sector.
Medical device

CECOR will display its heavy-duty chip cart line designed for the metalworking industry. New Product Post: 2/27/2017
Edited by Chris Koepfer Editor-in-Chief, Production Machining CECOR will display its heavy-duty chip cart line designed for the metalworking industry. These carts are sized to fit machine tool discharge and handle the maximum

Lang Technovation’s Quick Point zero-point clamping system is designed to greatly reduce setup times in horizontal and vertical CNC milling operations. New Product Post: 2/27/2017
Edited by Jedd Cole Editor Asociado, MMS Mexico Lang Technovation’s Quick Point zero-point clamping system is designed to greatly reduce setup times in

Eastec 2017: Available from Advanced Machine & Engineering, Tibo Tiefbohrtechnik’s E10 series of deep-drilling machines is designed to offer the precision required for bonescrews and other medical parts. New Product Post: 4/4/2017
Edited by Jedd Cole Associate Editor, Modern Machine Shop

A combination of selective laser melting and NiTi material enabled the creation of plates matched to both the shape and stiffness of natural bone. Researchers created porous fixation plates for reconstructive jaw surgery that precisely match the geometry as well as the stiffness of a natural jaw bone. Traditionally, fixation plates—the

This bar-fed mill features a nine-station turret in addition to a five-axis milling spindle. That way, turning can be performed on the bar while the milling spindle performs backworking on a parted-off workpiece. Blog Post: 5/18/2017
Derek Korn Executive Editor, Modern Machine Shop Bar-fed milling machines such as the five-axis models manufactured

Many of the emerging developments and key trends in metalworking technology were represented at this show, making it a revealing cross-section of current advances. Blog Post: 6/23/2017
Mark Albert Editorial Director, Modern Machine Shop Although the Amerimold event is primarily targeted to manufacturing companies involved in plastic injection

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) has released a new online tool to help students and job seekers build quality professional resumes that will help them market their technical skillsets to employers. The Resume Generator will also help employers better screen for and hire NIMS credential holders for in-demand jobs.
The tool is

Seco Tools LLC (Troy, Michigan) has partnered with Ferris State University (FSU) in Big Rapids, Michigan, to offer local area engineering students an opportunity to participate in a multi-year internship program at Seco. The program invites the top three engineering applicants to participate for an initial first-year internship. Then, based on

Maintenance training becomes increasingly necessary each time a boomer clocks out for good. Decades of repair experience and mold knowledge are gone in the flash of a retirement party, severely compromising ongoing mold maintenance. This is mainly because many companies do not document critical procedures accurately. On top of that, younger

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest (GACC Midwest) recently recognized Hermle Machine Co. for being the first employer in the state to introduce a new apprenticeship collaboration that follows the structure of the German apprenticeship system.
Hermle, based in Franklin,

Go to where you might discover the candidates who could turn into strong players in your shop. You have to plant seeds, the shop owner says. Blog Post: 9/15/2017
Peter Zelinski Editor-in-Chief, Modern Machine Shop Matt Guse, owner of MRS Machining, was the only leader from among the four “Top Shops” honorees not able to make it to the

Today’s your day to sit back and take pride in what you do for a living, moldmakers. Happy Labor Day. Today’s your day to sit back and take pride in what you do for a living, moldmakers. Happy Labor Day.
Since 1884, the United States has celebrated Labor Day, the “working man’s holiday,” on the first Monday of every

Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT), a national Manufacturing USA institute, in partnership with Tennessee Tech University’s iCube and other state partners, launched the second-year educational competition using MakerMinded, an online STEM learning and activity platform.
The goal of the MakerMinded campaign is to impassion students

Francine Petrucci is president and co-owner of B A Die Mold Inc. in Aurora, Illinois. B A Die Mold is a full-service, Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier of small- to medium-sized, highly complex molds for customers in the medical device, water filtration, automotive and home appliance industries. The company specializes in the manufacturing of

Eleven women from West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio have completed a 10-week advanced manufacturing pre-apprenticeship program at the Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI). The Step Up for Women Advanced Manufacturing Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program is a partnership between West Virginia Women Work and Apprenticeship Works. The program is designed to

A U.S. Department of Labor presentation about registered apprenticeships spurred discussion among Chicago AMBA members about the need for more effective ways to boost representation in order to boost interest in moldmaking as a career. If you don’t register your apprentices, why not? There has been discussion about this among members of

Things changed this year. New technologies and a new generation were prominent, and together they are helping to take this show into its next era. The biennial International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) finished last week with 115,612 total registrants—up slightly from two years ago. But that number doesn’t tell the most

At IMTS, Sandvik Coromant, a global supplier of tools, tooling solutions and know-how to the metalworking industry, lit up the Chicago skyline with insightful images designed to spread the word about the profound impact data and technology has on the manufacturing industry and people’s daily lives. The display also included inspirational

Yesterday I blogged about IMTS, providing an overarching summary of the manufacturing technologies featured there. Today, being Technology Tuesday, I thought I’d share a few snapshots from the show floor. Yesterday I blogged about IMTS, providing an overarching summary of the manufacturing technologies featured there. Today, being Technology

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